CAOS: Fables of Remnant's Terminal Entropy
by bittersweet bunny
Summary: Team CAOS; the fabled team that nearly destroyed all of Remnant. Not many know of the origins for their destructive massacres. One must follow their journeys throughout their years attending Beacon Academy to fully comprehend their actions. Cerys Lepidus, a cowardly hero, or perhaps a misunderstood villain; that's for you to decide. Cover image belongs to me.
1. The Birth of Utter Chaos - part 1

**The Birth of Utter Chaos**

 **part 1**

* * *

Team CAOS; the fabled team that nearly destroyed all of Remnant. Although they fought for serenity and rights of the people, there was a minor.. "twitch," perhaps. After the attack of Velesnaga, they gained scars of insanity that the Grimm left. Coursing through their minds, their actions changed. Their leader lead them into the cursed war known today as "the Massacre of Remnant." No one knew the true story of the dismay, until now. One must follow their journeys throughout their years attending Beacon Academy. Cerys Lepidus, a cowardly hero, or perhaps a misunderstood villain; that's for you to decide. I guess you could title this "Fables of Remnant's Terminal Entropy."

* * *

' _Today is the day that I will actually have a meaning in life. One who wears a badge of pride saying, "Hey! I'm a Huntress! I fight for justice and protection of the people!" No.. that sounds too weird.. Mrgrgr! What am I even saying? I just arrived here at Beacon and I don't even have a team yet! Sigh.. What if my team thinks I'm a coward.. Or even a weakling. Who am I kidding, I am all of these things. I'll only make a fool of myself,'_ a girl laying in her futon thought, cuddling her plush hare and whimpering silently.

The young girl, around the age of seventeen, got out of her mattress along with the other girls who just woke up. After arriving at the large academy and attending the Beacon Academy Initiation, they all were assigned to spend the night in a large room separating female from male students. Our hero, Cerys Lepidus, played with her tangled, beautiful golden hair and let out a pathetic yawn. Comparing herself to the others, she looked two years younger; this may be because she is shorter than most students and has a quite adorable, lovable appeal. She wore a long, blush pink nightgown with lace and ribbons dancing across the rim; there was one ribbon, with a pearl in the middle, centered below the collar.

Following the morning routine as also the other girls, she dressed herself in her battle armor. It was a sugar pink dress with a ruffled crinoline underneath. She applied the rustic silver breastplate and found her golden sandals. After that, she put her hair up in short, curled twintails and added her special dual winged clips. She grabbed her plaid mint green scarf and wrapped it around her neck. Cerys tried to practice smiling and presenting her speech style. She giggled with pleasure, for she had high hopes of the Beacon Academy Team Assembly.

* * *

Clumsily strolling off, she went to the locker room where she witnessed other students grabbing their weaponry from their newly assigned locker. As she kept roaming around the locker room, she overheard people discussing plans to be on the same team and talk about the "Pumpkin Pete's" spokesperson and mascot. Finally arriving at her locker, number 613, and unlocking it, she grabbed her hybrid weapons: Quicksilver and Petal Erosion, a bow that is enabled to transform into a steel flail with a morningstar; at that moment, it was in its bow form. Cerys transfigured her weapon into its flail form and fixated it behind her back on her belt.

" _Wow_! That's quite a cool looking weapon you have there!" A girl, probably even younger looking than Cerys, spoke in an awestruck manner. She had bright auburn hair pulled down and swept to her left shoulder; she also had bark brown eyes and freckles. Her battle armor was pleated gold with runes outlining the edges of the sleeves, neck, and rim. She wore a short miniskirt with dangling belts off to each side. She had folded boots with mix-matched strings varying from gold-to-brown-to-red.

"H-Huh!? U-Um.. Thank you.. It's nothing really. I mean, a bow and flail isn't all that creative." Her voice was hush as she clenched her battle skirt.

"Hmm.. I don't think so. Say, look at my weapon!" She took out her grand presented throwing axe from their locker besides Cerys'. It was large, almost half the girl's height. "It has a custom-built electric tesla coiling around the interior of the blades. I thought it would be _shocking_!" The girl laughed unsteadily. Cerys couldn't help but join her.

"M-My name is Cerys, Cerys Roseanne Lepidus. It's v-very nice to meet you!" Her voice became loud, scared, and embarrassed all at the same time along the last sentence.

"I'm Saffron Lux, the name the world will remember when I kick some Grimm _butt_!" Her voice was proud. "Back to my weapon, I attached a magnet, of sorts, so that whenever I throw Sunlight Rumble it'll come flying back like a boomerang. Why's that? My handy-dandy magnet cuff on my arm!" She pointed. Cerys gasped in awe. Abruptly, an announcement hologram appeared nearby.

"First-year students are to report to the Beacon Cliffs for their initiation," said Glynda Goodwitch, one of their teachers. Her voice was calm and composed.

"I guess we oughta report to Beacon Cliffs then. Hey, hey; I'll cross my fingers that we get partnered up together as a team, m'kay?" Saffron stuck out her pinky and awaited Cerys.

"Me too." She extended out her's as they promised.

* * *

Beacon Cliffs: high bluffs above the Emerald Forest. There on the scar were a certain amount of first-year students standing atop a square with the academy's logo. Cerys looked around for Saffron, but could not spot her in sight. Nervously, she whimpered like a lost animal. Glynda strode over to Ozpin's side.

"Each of you have heard rumors of _teams_ and _partners_. Well, we're here to put an end to it. You _will_ be given teammates, _today_." she informed. Ozpin adjusted his spectacles, and stepped forward with his cane.

"These partnerships will last for the four year duration of your studies here at Beacon Academy. I urge you to find a partner that you can work well with." Ozpin said, taking a long sip from his mug, and sighed. "Partners will be decided by the first person you make eye contact with after you land in the Emerald Forest. I advise you to never hesitate to destroy everything in your path; after all, the possibility of dying is very real. You will be evaluated for your performances during the initiation process, although instructors _will not_ intervene. Your objective is to seek a relic, one per pair of partners, located in a certain temple on the other end of the forest. You must guard this with your life and your standings. You are to then return back to the cliff you are currently standing on with the relic. Any opposition?" A long silence was given in reply, amongst the whimpers of Cerys. "Very well then. Prepare your stances." Everyone positioned themselves as students around Cerys were catapulted off into the forest.

"W-What!? Just was a minute, sir! We're being catapulted off—" Before she could finish, the young huntress-in-training was shot off along with the others.

* * *

The young girl shrieked as she was thrown into the air. Wind howled and gusts swept her along the current in a smooth direction. She grasped the material of her skirt whilst holding Quicksilver, in order to maintain her modesty.

' _Okay, I need to calm down, and fast. Breath in.. breath—oh my God, watch out birdie!—out.."_ Finally calming down herself, she had the face of determination. Her eyes fixated on her weapon and transformed it into Petal Erosion. She struck a nearby tree branch and was able to hold on and swing to the ground safely. Finally on the ground, she tried yanking her flail back. It was stuck, she figured.

"Mrgrgr.. Come on.." She cried quietly to herself. Finally, with a powerful jerk backwards, she untangled her flail. With the amount of force she used, she fell back on her bottom. She made a pathetic mewl.

"Are you alright?"

"H-Huh?" Cerys looked behind her and saw a student. He had a hood covering most of his face which was attached to a jacket. He had ripped jeans down to his shin and somewhat black socks; one was folded down and the other was pulled high. He reached for Cerys' hand with what seemed to be his weapon—dual platinum claws. She shyly took his hand and got up from the earth.

"Um.. Thank you." She tried smiling. "I'm Cerys, and.. um, who are you?"

"Ciar Astrophel, that's all you need to know." He finished the last sentence as he turned and walked away in the opposite direction.

"W-Wait! Aren't we supposed to be partners? I-I mean, if you don't want to I can pretend I never locked eyes with you! So—" Before she could finish, he completely disappeared. Cerys began to whimper softly amongst herself.

* * *

She travelled around the forest in search of the temple, or other potential partners like Saffron. Cerys crossed her fingers as she travelled further and further into the depths of the forest. Then, almost abruptly, there was a rustle. Cerys stopped; she located Petal Erosion from behind her belt and started to walk slowly in a three hundred degree angle. A twig nearby snapped. Her eyes widened, sweat dripped down her face to the thought of dying alone to a Grimm. Her heart rate increased, gradually gaining speed and pressure. The tension was testing her to her limits. She grew panicked and impatient, finally striking a nearby bush. Nothing. More rustles came from the other bushes. Finally, six Ursai trudged toward the nervous girl. The area surrounding her seemed to grow smaller; the earth was shaking and chaos was buzzing in Cerys' head. What was this feeling, she thought. Fear, or so it seemed. She was outnumbered by the sleuth, something to contribute to such anxiety. Cerys felt her heart shake unsteadily beating hastily.

"I'm not afraid, I'm not afraid, I'm not—" She continuously lied to herself. Such deception was a common source to relax the mind at ease in a tense mood. Cerys grasped her chest as her pupils shrunk. Her arm began to shake and tremble as she readied Petal Erosion. She transfigured her flail into Quicksilver and aimed an arrow at one of the many Ursai. She gambled for a headshot, and succeeded. Each arrowhead is contained with pink dust, fabricated by the combination of white and red dust creating controlled explosions. Two Ursai charged at Cerys in attempt to ram with a mighty force. She dodged and unleashed an array of arrows into the side of their torsos. Only two more left, she thought. One was a Minor and the other Major. The Major charged at Cerys with blinding speeds. She attempted to dodge, but tripped and fell upon the earth. The Ursa struck her with its claws, but she shielded herself with Quicksilver. Not only could it be used as a bow, but a staff; the morningstar portion of Petal Erosion's flail stuck out on top of the staff. Therefore, she could defend herself with Quicksilver if there is a shortage of time to transfigure. Cerys cringed as it kept striking in repetition. She bit her lip and finally performed a backwards roll to save time for the transformation. With Petal Erosion in hand, she maneuvered around the Ursa and wrapped the flail around its neck. She screamed with agitation, forcefully managing to decapitate the Grimm. Cerys fell on her bottom, and sighed heavily.

"Finally.. Wheh.." She gasped for air shakily. There was a roar from behind. The last Ursai gained speed and charged for Cerys. There was no time to react. She shrieked and closed her wide, periwinkle eyes. The sound of metal clashed and rung like a bell. Anxiously, she opened one eye slowly to see a dead Ursa minor turning to rose petals, signifying its death.

"Be careful next time, idiot." Said Ciar in a somewhat monotonous and displeased voice. He reached for Cerys' hand once again, but instead she stood up on her own.

"I-I'm not an idiot!" She pouted.

"Whatever. Are you coming or not?" He began to walk away. She smiled.

"Mhm, just wait up, okay?" Cerys giggled merrily striding to his side.


	2. The Birth of Utter Chaos - part 2

**The Birth of Utter Chaos**

 **part 2**

* * *

The two began to trek across the forest in search of the temple. It seemed an eternity due to the lack of communication between the two. Finally, Cerys broke the silence.

"Um.. Hey, Ciar? Why did you come back for me? I mean, if you didn't, I wouldn't be standing here now."

"I was just passing by and noticed the pathetic excuse for a battle. Don't expect me to be 'nice' or 'kind' or whatever you expect me to be, okay?" His voice was harsh like an afternoon storm.

"But you _are_ kind. You came back and saved me, that just proves it." She smiled gleefully. He was shocked again, but tried to hide it.

"Y-You're unpleasant.."

"Hehehe.. You'll just have to get used to it. From now on, we're teammates!" She declared softly yet passionately. He tried to hide a smile.

"You'll have to just stay away from me in battle and spare the small talk, Cerys. I can't focus with you nagging at me."

"Aww.. I thought our melee tag-team would have been fun.." She pouted, but followed it by a slight giggle. She closed her eyes and rose her knuckled to her lips. Ciar laughed, but immediately began coughing to cover his tracks; he stopped and began to look away as if their conversation never happened.

* * *

Almost half an hour passed until they reached the sanctuary grounds. There were chess pieces varying from colors of gold—representing white—and black. Cerys wandered around the grounds to decide on her choice. Finally, she stopped before the pedestal with the black queen relic. Ciar strode over to her side.

"The black queen piece? Kind of a risque choice, Cerys." He sighed. "You're unpleasant." Ciar finished as Cerys began to pout again and puffed her left cheek.

"The queen is the uppermost important piece in chess. Without it, there is no guarantee of winning. I find it a powerful and regal symbol for a team, don't you think?" Her voice was hush and soothing. Ciar refused to lock eye contact.

"Just hurry up already. I don't care what you choose." Cerys smiled and snatched the piece. All they have to do is make way back to Beacon Cliffs. Suddenly, there was a shrieking cry echoing through the quiet and somewhat serene forest. Was it a bird? Perhaps reptilian? Cerys questioned herself. Without hesitation, she and Ciar sprinted toward Beacon Cliffs, the source of the cry.

* * *

There they met back at the cliffs, only to be accompanied by the large Grimm. It had a large, curved beak and slim piercing eyes. Its talons were long and wingspan of seven feet, a nice guestimate. Those red beady eyes, Ceres would never forget that look. Her hands trembled carrying Quicksilver. Ciar looked over at the pale girl.

"You sense it too, right? This Grimm isn't like the others."

"Nuh.." She shook her head and focussed on him. "Not only that," She paused and looked at her bow's string. "I.." Before she could finish, a large disk-like weapon flung through the air. On top of it was a student, riding the large throwing axe into the back of the Grimm's neck. It screeched profoundly. The Grimm swung for the student, only to miss for their incredible speed. Another student swung a heavy weapon against its wings. It was injured, but not dead.

"Sorry to keep ya waitin', Cerys!" A familiar voice chimed.

"W-Wah!?" Cerys yelped as Saffron hugged her from behind along the waist. The other student came to greet the others as he swung his sword, carrying him a good distance.

"This here is Mi! He's kinda pushy, but a nice tank~!"

"Hello, my name is Minh Phan." He sighed. "Saffron keeps calling me that name. Well, I suppose it isn't a poor choice." Minh played around with his messy snow hair and followed by closing his charming golden eyes. His outfit looked similar to a monk's, aside from gold plated armor covering his left shoulder and knees. He wore a grey bandana under his bangs covering a scar of some sorts. The Grimm screeched as the four looked toward its direction.

"Alright, everyone. We need a plan. Minh, Saffron discussed you are a tank, correct?" She looked at him with confidence. He simply nodded. "Your gunblade, we're going to take advantage of that ability. The three listened to Cerys' further tactics. Finally, they all nodded as the Grimm became more and more tenacious.

* * *

Saffron and Ciar ran toward front whilst Cerys and Minh took to the rear. Saffron sent forth her axe as it repeatedly came back and forth—due to her magnet arm cuff—slashing the beast's armor. Its speed is impeccable, a great engineer must be one of Saffron's hidden talents. Ciar lept damaging the armor with his claws. He was focussed, his lavender eyes were even sharper than usual. Minh slammed his sword into the earth. Its point is hollow, large enough for bullets or small grenades to shoot out. He sent out glass fueled dust bullets. Sharp translucent shards were sent out piercing deep into its armor. Cerys on the other hand sprinted past the students. She readied Petal Erosion in her tight grasp. She was nervous. Could her plan succeed, or fail?

Cerys sprinted behind the Grimm. It was too focussed over the pursuit over armor. She charged and wrapped her flail around the Grimm's neck. She pulled with all her might. The monster screamed, and Cerys trembled when realizing she was not strong enough to fully decapitate the Grimm. She hopped off and looked around her fellow students. They were no match for the armor. Rage filled throughout her mind. Anxiety, pressure, insecurity, failure, disappointment, anxiety, pressure, insecurity, failure, disappointment, anxiety, pressure, insecurity, failure, disappointment. Cerys screamed as her semblance awoken, for the very first time. Her eyes changed from a periwinkle color to a carnation pink. She yelled as her weapon transformed into Quicksilver. She charged for the beast and struck its chest; the point of the staff pierced its heart forcing its way through. A barrage of pain was throttled into the Grimm. With all her might, she stabbed through its entire body and pulled the staff back out. She cut through its head with one quick swipe. Her peers were astonished, perhaps horrified. The Grimm withered into petals, slowly turning to cinders.

Cerys' eyes slowly cooled down to her original color. She sighed and turned toward her teammates. Cerys let out a small gasp, her peers were sickened by the sight they witnessed.

"Huh, w-what's.. wrong?" She tilted her head. As she spoke those words, she turned back around to face the mangled beast. Gore was replaced with petals, yet she screamed in fear. Although, the cinders began rising along with the petals. They formed a familiar shape, the very same Grimm they had just finished. It was.. reborn!? The auburn colors of its wings were brighter than ever. Its magnificent appearance hid its hostile attitude. The beast faced Cerys, and dipped its head. The Grimm flew away taking off for the mountain range nearby.

* * *

At this time, the four students entered the amphitheater back at Beacon. After quite a while of Ozpin's "motivational" speeches of teams, he begins the formation ceremony. Cerys, Ciar, Minh, and Saffron were the third group to be called up. They stood next to each other with their arms behind their backs.

"Cerys Roseanne Lepidus," Ozpin began calling out their names as the embarrassed girl began having small tears in her eyes; she was embarrassed of being referred to by her full name. "Ciar Astrophel, Minh Phan, and Saffron Lux. You each retrieved the black queen relic. From now on, the four of you will be known as team CAOS, led by," He glanced toward Cerys' direction; she jumped when this happened. "Cerys Lepidus." He said with a curious tone. This time, he did not call her middle name, which sent a huge relief to Cerys, until Saffron pounced into her arms.

"A team led by Cerys.. I'm über excited! We'll make great heroes!"

"Her strategy on damaging the armor was quite reasonable, but the Grimm was like no other. If it were a normal beast, her tactics would have led to victory." Minh smiled reassuringly.

"You better not screw this up and make Ozpin regret this, y'know. Tch, you better step up your game, idiot!" Ciar spoke embarrassedly. Cerys faked a giggle, she was still upset after her semblance awakening. Ozpin and Glynda were on to her, monitoring her movements through the forest like the others. She looked toward the two instructors nervously, they glared back.

* * *

When the four students sat down watching the other team formations. Team CFVY, RWBY, JNPR, CRDL, etcetera. Until, Cerys spotted an unusual and flashy team.

"Nike Mapledew, Zinnia Aloe, Gaia Vanille, and Acacia Clove. You each retrieved the white bishop relic. From now on, the four of you will be known as team MAGC, led by Nike Mapledew." Their leader was wearing an auburn keyhole opened corset shaped like a leaf located around the center of her bust. Her pants are khakis stuffed inside her leather boots to make it bubble out. She has leather-strapped arm covers and maple colored hair tied in a long, thin braid.

Another teammate, most likely Gaia Vanille, was a deer faunus. She wore a sand brown hood covering her entire head down to her chest. The hood had two holes cut out so her antlers would be exposed. She also wore a bandana covering her mouth. Her outfit was one like a rogue's, or a bard's because of the flute hanging off from her belt.

As they walked off from the stage, Nike glanced at Cerys. She jumped when their eyes met. Nike silently giggled and winked. Cerys' face grew slightly red and looked away.

Ozpin thanked everyone and discussed how the new term will be more interesting than lasts'.

* * *

Students finally headed toward their new dorms; each team's dorm had four beds and enough space to add furniture. As Cerys' team left the amphitheater to their dorms, Ozpin grabbed Glynda by the arm. He came to her ear and whispered,

"We need to discuss matters on the team's formations. I will meet you in my office." He said with a hush. Glynda seemed confused, but nodded.

* * *

The two were in his large office. It had gears ticking everywhere, from the ceiling to the floor (obviously under the glass level) Ozpin sat down and began drinking from his mug. Glynda stood there across from him waiting impatiently. Finally, she broke.

"Professor Ozpin, why did you bring me here?"

"Glynda," He placed his mug on the table. "You _do_ know why."

"Could this perhaps be about Ms. Lepidus? I don't know what it is, but I don't trust her _or_ her newfound semblance. Why _did_ you place her as leader for a team?" She angrily questioned.

"The reason for this is to examine her abilities. You saw how she took on each Grimm, the pack of Ursai and the.. _other_. Either way, we don't know for sure if she is stable enough to control it. If she isn't prepared, we _will_ take actions into our own hands." He took another long sip as the frightened Glynda shook.

"But Professor, I have another bit of information you may find interesting. Her parents were both hunters and workers at a Grimm experimentation facility in Atlas, Mantle. Their deaths were ruled _incomplete_ and left Cerys at an orphanage around the age of seven. Ten years of wanting revenge, but on who? Could that have anything to do with her semblance?"

"I don't know. Although, I'm now curious. Glynda, tomorrow morning I want you to find all files under 'Lepidus' and the Grimm experimentation facility they worked under. We could be in danger, and no one even knows it. Not even Cerys herself."

* * *

 _Chapter one is finally finished, wheh.. This took about nine months to piece together theories, characters, etcetera._

 _Cerys was a tricky character to develop. I usually don't like writing about "insanity" or "despair" tropes, but the birth of this story's plot and characters found to be an exception._

 _Feel free to leave comments or reviews. What will happen to CAOS next? What will Ozpin's next actions be? Who is Velesnaga and what is Cerys' secret behind her newfound semblance?_

 _I am quite pleased with the turn of events the chapters' plots came out to be and I hope you continue to follow me on this journey!_

—Morgan


End file.
